


Tar trails

by Eucalyptusace



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Break Up, Cloud is a shithead, Gen, Tifa is tired and done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 17:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14025561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eucalyptusace/pseuds/Eucalyptusace
Summary: Tifa dumps Cloud





	Tar trails

**Author's Note:**

> I feel bad for all the italics, but because this is one big argument, I thought it was necessary to add emphasis. I wanted to make Cloud unlikeable. By the way this was totally not inspired by me looking into the compatibility of taurus and leo, not at all.

Tifa turned the documents over in her hand before placing them neatly back on top of the stack on the side of her desk. Her chair squeaked as she leaned back and let her head roll tiredly back over her shoulders, trying not to think too hard. She was beyond feeling frustrated. She knew it wasn’t her fault the household was behind in funds. She had always had been good with money, she was a responsible person who didn’t let delusions shelter her from reality. If something wasn’t practical, then it wasn’t considered. And motorcycle parts weren’t practical. 

She could hear him banging around outside. He was loud enough to bother everyone on their block, and she’d had her fair share of answering the phone when they called, playing the adult. Always apologizing. She winced when she heard a booming clang and his cursing and more scraping of metal against the concrete floor of the garage.  _ How many times has he taken that fucking thing apart? _ No, she just blocked it out, hoping the racket wouldn’t be followed by the bar’s phone ringing off its hook.  _ It’s the weekend, and that asshole you live with woke up all my kids and do you have any idea how hard it is to get any sleep in this cursed city? _ Yes, yes, she was so sorry, she knew how annoying it must be to be their neighbor, and she would talk to him about it. Even though he never seemed to hear her properly when she confronted him with the issue.

The banging stopped and the back door burst open, Cloud shuffling through to the kitchen and slamming open cupboards and rummaging through shelves. Tifa quickly pushed herself off the chair to meet him in there. He had already made a mess of things in the five seconds he’d gone looking to prepare himself a sandwich, and Tifa found herself gritting her teeth at the thought of the full hour she’d spent earlier making it clean.

“Finished outside?” She asked him while sliding her body between him and the counter where he dumped loose lettuce and onions, knocking him slightly with her elbow as she grabbed the loaf of white bread to make the lunch for him instead. He hung back and looked at her dazedly, sucking in some snot that had accrued while working hard out in the polluted city air. It was a disgusting sound and a disgusting habit.

“Uh, no.” He sat at the table and continued sucking in snot. “Oops, my bad…” Tifa glanced over her shoulder at the trail of oil he’d brought in with him, staining the floor with the type of tar that would take many aggravating hours to scrub up. She turned back to the sandwich in silence, then put it on a plate and served it to Cloud. He opened it up right away and tossed the pickles back onto the plate. “Pickles are gross.” He shot Tifa a look like she’d done that to him on purpose, then downed the rest of the sandwich. She stood there without saying anything, then watched him scrape the feet of the chair against the ground as he got up to leave for the garage.

She waited until the door banged shut and she heard metal clanging around again when she snatched the plate up and got to washing it. “Thanks, Teef,” she mumbled through a clenched jaw. “Maybe one day I’ll learn how to make a sandwich and then fuck off.” She turned to look at the tar on the ground and felt a knot in her shoulder tighten. This was a Monday, her only day off. Her “personal day” after the busy weekend.

There were still documents that she wanted to address before finishing for the day, but at the moment, she found herself following the trail of tar to the garage. She didn’t go back there very often because of the overwhelming smell of turpentine and grease, so when she opened the door to step through, Cloud looked up at her in confusion.

“What?” he said, wearing his welding goggles and a stupid expression. As much as he liked to play mechanic in the garage, Tifa always felt like she was just looking at a teenager who had bought too many accessories in the shop that he didn’t fully understand and was trying hard to look as cool as possible. It was a huge surprise that he hadn’t seared off an appendage yet.

She stood in front of the door and crossed her arms, looking around. It was a disorganized mess in there, but at least she didn’t have responsibility over this one room. “I was just wondering….”

Her voice was cut off by the loud gushing of the heat of the welding torch. He’d already turned away from her and was burning two unrelated-looking parts together. She felt a knot on the other shoulder tighten.

A moment later, the torch was turned off and set down, and he started grabbing at other valves and bits. “Were you about to say something, or are you just watchin’ me?”

There was a mean heat building in her chest as she tried to summon her words. “I was just wondering when you were thinking of moving out.”

He barely glanced her way, but she could see he looked scandalized. “What the hell? I’m not moving out, I  _ live _ here! What’s your problem?”

The heat kept building up in her chest. “Oh really? Because I’m the one living here who pays rent. I’m the one living here who owns a business. I’m the one living here with a job.”

That caused Cloud to stand up and pull off his goggles, and he glared at her with rings around his eyes from where the goggles had pressed into the skin. “I have a job, too! What are you talkin’ about? Are you on your period or something? Trying to kick me outta my own house all of a sudden…!”

“Really, Cloud? Is it really ‘all of a sudden’? Have you even been paying attention the last couple weeks? All you do is play with this stupid motorcycle while all the neighbors continue to hate  _ me _ more and more. When was the last time you went out on a delivery? That  _ is _ your job, right? Delivering things? When was the last time you got a phone call? I can’t remember. And in case you don’t recall from the last three times I told you, we’re hurting for money. And I’m not sure where you managed to get enough cash to buy all this...this  _ shit _ , but maybe you should’ve been thinking more about how we’re gonna survive this next quarter with our non-existent profit.”

“ _ Our? _ It’s  _ your _ bar, Tifa! It’s not like we share a checking account!”

The rage in her chest bubbled over, and she came around to his other side and snatched up a heavy piece of machinery and threw it with all her might against the ground where it shattered with a deafening clang. Cloud grabbed her arm and held her painfully tight so she couldn’t get ahold of anything else. “Stop! What are you doing?! You have no idea how expensive that was!!”

Tifa cracked her opposite fist down hard against Cloud’s forearm where he gripped her, and he let go, but she sized herself up and got in his face so they were on eye-level. “Why don’t you tell me  _ exactly  _ how expensive that was so I can deduct it from our  _ household account _ .”

He didn’t shrink from her intense gaze and matched her offensive stance. They stood facing each other, less than a foot apart. “It’s none of your business how I manage my own career, and you can’t get pissed at me for doing what I want to do in my house. You can’t just tell me to leave.”

“ _ Career? _ Is that what this is? Your career is looking like an idiot in  _ my  _ garage? Where’s the  _ rent,  _ Cloud? This isn’t your fucking house, it’s  _ mine _ , and I don’t want you living with me anymore.”

He didn’t back off, but his face fell and she braced himself for his switching gears. A tactic she’d come to expect in the three years they’d spent together. “ _ Why? _ What did I do to you? I’ve never hurt you or done anything wrong!”

“You know why. And if you  _ really _ don’t, then maybe you should leave just so you can think about it for a while.”

His entire demeanor changed from imposing to hurt and he gazed imploringly at her. “Is it the sex? I’m  _ trying,  _ Teef, but I told you that I do better on top and…..”

She made a noise of disgust. “That’s  _ not _ it. We haven’t slept together in months, and when we do, you can’t make it up that you’re a complete pillow princess and I do all the work. But that’s beside the point.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be good enough for you…. I knew this was gonna happen. I keep worrying about it, all the  _ damn time _ , Tifa. I bet you found a better man than me, didn’t you? It’s all because I suck. You don’t even have to say it. I know you’re thinking all the time how much I suck.”

“Oh gods, shut up! I’m not joining your little pity party. I just need some space. Can’t you let me have a little space? After everything I’ve done for you?”

It was like she had smacked him in the face. He looked about ready to cry. “Nobody would’ve helped me ‘cept for you, Tifa. When I was in that clinic….and then at the train station….it was all because of you that I’m alive.” He looked down at his grease-stained hands and his shoulders slumped forward. “You’ve done so much for me and I can’t ever do anything that’ll make up for it…”

She wanted to smack him for real, but she held herself in place, stiff as a board. “I’m not backing off of this. I know what I want. And I think it’s time you respected that for once.”

His eyes shot up, sadness immediately replaced by resentment. “Fine. You know what, whatever. I hated living here anyway. Your sandwiches suck and you’re boring.” He stomped away from her to grab his keys from the work table. “I’ll leave, but I’m coming later to get my  _ shit.” _ He blew past her back into the building where he trailed a second line of tar on the ground, muddying the original into a greater sum of the two messes. His voice carried on down the hall, loud and dramatic. “I’ll go live with Yuffie. I always thought she was more fun than you anyway!”

Tifa waited until the front door of the bar slammed shut before going back inside. She wasn’t sure how Cloud planned on getting to Yuffie considering his bike was in two pieces in the garage, but she was feeling much too exhausted to care. She stood in the kitchen with her eyes closed, hugging her arms, trying to see the victory she’d just won. All she could really get her mind to focus on was how dirty everything seemed.


End file.
